We determined the effect of induced refractive errors on the visual field indices of the Octopus global analysis program G-1. After cycloplegia, refractive errors were introduced randomly in ten nonglaucomatous eyes of ten patients. Mean defect values (+/- S.D.) were lowest (2.4 +/- 0.8 dB) with full cycloplegic correction. With increasing ametropia, the mean defect increased significantly; it was 3.6 +/- 0.8 dB (P less than .0001) with the addition of +1.00 diopter and 5.3 +/- 0.9 dB (P less than .0001) with +2.00 diopters of sphere over the full cycloplegic correction. No significant differences in corrected loss variance, skew, short-term fluctuation, or reliability factor could be determined with changes in refractive error.